S1 2.8 COLD AIR INTAKE HOSE?

[SachaP]

Hello all. Would appreciate guidance on the hose that should run from the air filter housing to a duct at the front of the car which should channel cold air into the air filter. The hose on my S1 has always been missing. Car runs fine, but I think would run better with cold air going into the air filter box. The air filter housing is a Ford Part - No 78TF-9600-DA. The opening for the pipe is on the (near) side of the filter housing, and oval in shape. I have no idea what the original pipe is supposed to look like. Ford say the housing itself and all associated hoses are obsolete, and they have no pictorial records. Unless I can find someone with a replacement hose (will pay cash for one!), I would like to make something up that will do the same job. I haven't found any suppliers that do a hose that attaches to an oval opening, nearly all air intake hoses seem to be designed for a round opening.

One other thing that is baffles me - where would the hose duct to? The only ducts at the front of my car are the ones that feed cold air into the interior air vents through those horrible corrugated black plastic hoses. If I can find a hose for the air box I'll probably sacrifice the passenger side duct at the front to supply cold air to the filter. Thanks in advance for advice, pictures, hoses.

[pringli]

Sacha, see link to MINIMATT photos, its an oval shaped corrugated affair that points out to the nearside by the look of it.
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

[SachaP]

Thanks, at last I can see what the airbox pipe is supposed to look like! Still not sure how and with what that hose is ducted to the front. I have ordered some hose and joiners from Auto Performance, as have decided to make something up, which will involve sacrificing the air intake to the passenger side of the cockpit, but as my wife refuses to ride in the S anyway, no great loss ("...too loud, cramped, liable to explode..."), etc.

[ketvrin]

SachaP said:

but as my wife refuses to ride in the S anyway, no great loss ("...too loud, cramped, liable to explode..."), etc.

but what does she think of the car ???

K

[pringli]

Sacha does it actually go to the front or is that the total intake fitment visible in the photos? Any s1 owners willing to advise?

[SachaP]

I would really love to know the answer to that question. I have now seen pictures of a few S1 engine bays, and on each there is simply the hose sticking out from the side of the air filter box, and none of them are ducted to the front. I guess this is how the system was designed but I would have thought that getting cold "ram air" from the front of the car hosed directly through to the air filter would be better than picking up hot air from within the engine bay, but that is really just a guess. Would really appreciate views on this. The various hoses and connectors I ordered from Auto Performance should be arriving this week, and I will probably sort out the ducting to the front this coming weekend BUT if anyone has a spare hose like the one in the picture, that would be gggrrreeaaattt, as I could then look out for any performance differences.

[CTE]

Sasha, I went through similar thoughts as yourself, and went to the extremes of fitting a performance air filter cartridge, blocking the standard oval hole, making a new hole in the centre of the air box, and then running ducting from the front of the radiator grill to the new hole in the air box.....made bugger all difference. I ended up changing the engine to the V6 Cosworth type, and have not looked back!

[pringli]

o/t but, Mark did you get bespoke manifolds fabricated and if so roughly how much?

[greymrj]

Mine is also an S1. I would confirm my intake is also oval, 'corrugated' and quite short and certainly not ducted. See picture. As the Jetronic system uses an air demand valve and a plenum chamber there would seem to be no value in having any 'ram' air effect. I am no expert on the engine but I understood that any form of forced induction was unlikely to be worthwhile. The air intake also seems low enough down and far enough to the front nearside to be clear of any significant heating effect from the engine or radiator, at least when moving.

[SachaP]

thanks for your comments and advice. I am no longer hooked on the idea of ducting to the front, as it sounds like it won't be worth the effort. In any event, the ducting I put together last weekend looked awful and was immediately discarded. if anyone can help me source the missing oval-ended pipe that should be on the end of my air-filter housing, that would be massively appreciated. thanks.